Police on Wednesday seized around ₹28.5 crore in cash and 15 kg of gold bars worth about ₹20 crore from the house of a retired government bus driver in Deucha village of West Bengal’s Birbhum district after a 20-hour search, officials said.
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The house owner, Minar Mondal, is being questioned, said a police officer.
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The officer added, “During preliminary interrogation, he told police that the cash and gold belonged to his brother-in-law, Tulu Mondal alias Mohd Nazibuddin, who was arrested in a murder case in 2022 and later questioned by central agencies over alleged links to illegal stone, sand and coal trades.”
“Tulu Mondal was released on bail in the murder case. He has been absconding since May. He used to operate a few hundred dumper trucks to transport illegally quarried stone and sand. He also operated several toll-tax booths. Minar was in charge of one of the booths,” the officer said. Tulu Mondal was known to be an aide of Anubrata Mondal, TMC rebel group leader, until he went into hiding after the assembly election results.
“I request the government to take strong action,” said TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh.
